Langa named as gloveman in the ACCC team of the Championships

East Asia-Pacific gloveman Trevor Langa (VAN) was rewarded for a great carnival at the 2011 Australian Country Cricket Championships in Bunbury, named as wicket keeper in the ACCC Team of the Championship.

Langa collected 11 catches and 3 stumping's in a terrific performance with the gloves beating off several strong candidates for the award. He also made some terrific contributions with the bat averaging a handy 33.3 including a top score of 54 not out against WA Country and a crucial 47 not out in EAP's only victory of the tournament against SA Country.

"Trevor had a great carnival with the bat and his glove work was outstanding especially when keeping to the spinners," said EAP coach Tom Evans.

Mark Coles the Vanuatu Cricket Association's High Performance Manager says everyone in Vanuatu was keeping a close eye on the performances of their local players at the ACCC and everyone is thrilled with Langa's achievement.

"Trevor had an outstanding tournament and thoroughly deserved to be named in the team of the tournament," he said. "Playing the rest of the summer in New Zealand will only further improve his talents."

VCA President Mark Stafford believes recognition such as this for Vanuatu's number one keeper is just reward for the ability and work that Langa has put into his game in recent times.

"The VCA has been aware of Trevor Langa's ability for a long time and we are very pleased that he has put some consistent performances together throughout this ACCC tournament to achieve recognition in a highly competitive environment," said Stafford.

"We hope that this is a catalyst for Trevor to further advance his cricket career as he is still very young and has the capacity to improve further. The VCA will support Trevor's cricket and personal advancement in whatever way we can."

Continuing the strong performance of players from Vanuatu at the championships was the captain Andrew Mansale who was awarded the Doug Walters fielding award as the best fielder in the ACCC. A veteran of the tournament, Mansale first represented EAP at the ACCC when he was only 16 and since that time has captivated spectators and fellow players alike with his game awareness; great anticipation; and athletic approach to fielding.

This is the second consecutive year Mansale has won the award and the third year in a row that it has gone to an EAP player with Vani Vagi Morea (PNG) winning the award three years ago. Mansale was again extremely impressive with his speed and ability to anticipate in the field; thus saving many runs and also creating runs outs.

"The fact that he has won the best fielder award at the ACCC in two consecutive years speaks volumes for him," said Stafford. "It's a great achievement for a great young player who despite all of his skills and the accolades heaped upon him remains a very humble man."

VCA High Performance Manager Mark Coles says having someone like Mansale at his disposal in the national team lifts the spirits of everyone around him.

"His ability to lead young men shows how highly he is regarded amongst his peers," he said. "At only 22 years of age he still has a huge future in the game."

To top off the fielding award Mansale was also named the EAP Player of the Championships; an award chosen through a point based system. Mansale narrowly won from young spinner Jason Kila (PNG) who had a very impressive ACCC debut.